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Mystery Publishers

Academy Chicago PublishersAn imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.

Crippen & LandruCrippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.

Dean Street PressThis small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.

Felony & MayhemThis publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.

Langtail PressA fairly new Print On Demand publisher specializing mostly in classic mysteries. The managing director, James Prichard is the great-grandson of Agatha Christie, and his lineage shows. Authors include John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, Anthony Berkeley, and Freeman Wills Crofts, among others. Many are also published as ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.

Locked Room InternationalA small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.

Merion PressThe Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.

MysteriousPress.comThe brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.

Oconee Spirit PressA small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.

Oleander PressThis small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.

Ostara Publishing"Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."

Poisoned Pen PressBased in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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April 01, 2013

"Three at Wolfe's Door"

First, there's the problem of the gourmet who found that the arsenic sprinkled on his appetizer really didn't agree with him at all.

Then there was the female cab driver who pulled up outside the door...with a dead body in the back seat.

And finally, there was a party for some visiting rodeo stars where a visitor died rather suddenly when somebody decided to practice a fancy rope toss that wound up around the guest's neck.

We're talking about three interesting cases for Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin in "Three at Wolfe's Door," by Rex Stout. The 1960 collection of three novellas is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.

It's worth pointing out that none of these cases which landed at Wolfe's door made Nero Wolfe particularly happy - but he wound up having to solve all of them, for a variety of reasons. After all, that deadly gourmet dinner was prepared by his own personal chef, Fritz Brenner. That cab driver showed up just as Archie had walked off the job, so Wolfe really had to get involved as well. And that deadly little party for the rodeo stars took place in the apartment of Archie's close friend, Lily Rowan, who promptly hired Wolfe to find out who had abused her hospitality.

I would argue that many of Rex Stout's novella-length mysteries are better than many of his full-length books, and I think that's the case with these three novellas. Yes, there are some better ones in other collections, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable collection displaying the talents of Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin and Rex Stout quite nicely. It seems to be available both in paper and as an e-book, and you should add it to your To Be Read pile.

Comments

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Les - You make an interesting point about Stout's novellas. I think more than many authors, he was a master of that length story. And although you're right that people differ about which is the best, I like this collection too and was delighted to see you highlighted it here. One of the things these stories make me think of is how often Wolfe gets involved in cases unwillingly. It's such a frequent theme and yet Wolfe does it well enough that it doesn't get 'tired' in my opinion.

Agreed, Margot. Wolfe usually is dragged into a case kicking and screaming, more often than not by Archie (as in the case of the cab driver with the dead body). It's great fun to see how Archie is going to manage it.

I was just looking at that book on my shelf, thinking about reading it soon. I have been wanting to re-read some of the collections of novellas, because I think maybe I don't have those memorized. I have read the Nero Wolfe series so often I know every line practically. Maybe I should try rereading the non-Wolfe mysteries by Stout.

The non-Wolfe mysteries are fun, Tracy, although I miss Archie's voice in all of them. But Tecumseh Fox, Alphabet Hicks, Dol Bonner and even Inspector Cramer, on their own, are still pretty good company.

This is a good collection and certainly deserving of the praise you give it. I'd have to disagree on the non-Wolfe books as being nearly as good, as I classify them as Not nearly as good. A point of personal preference, certainly, but a caveat as well.

Nothing wrong with personal taste, Richard, and - overall - the Wolfe books and novellas are much better than the non-Wolfe ones, although the latter still can be very enjoyable IMHO. In one case, certainly, Rex Stout rewrote a Tecumseh Fox novel, "Bad for Business," as a Wolfe novella, "Bitter End," which was MUCH better than the original, again IMHO.

I re-read the shorts all the time, Les. I have a bunch of 'em in my Stout Stash. Rex Stout's novellas and/or short stories are wonderful. I'm not a big short story reader, but for Stout I break my own rules.

The only short story I don't like is the one that takes place at the baseball park where the star player is murdered. Know the one I mean? I can't remember what collection it is part of. But I don't like the whole idea of it. Maybe cause I like baseball too much.